“ The young are hatched about the third week iu May ; and as soon as they are able to provide for 
themselves, they unite with the old birds, in flocks varying in number from fifteen or twenty to one hundred, 
or even to two hundred individuals. In this manner they remain through the winter, feeding on the hornbeam- 
seeds which have fallen to the ground, the newly cracked shells of which are to be seen in abundance at their 
haunts ; the birds only separate at the approach of the breeding-season. I believe the male has no song worth 
notice ; in warm days in March I have heard them, when a number have been sitting together on a tree, uttering 
a few notes in a soft tone, bearing some resemblance to those of the Bullfinch.” 
So close does this bird approach to London, that Mr. Yarrell mentions he has known it to be killed at 
Netting Hill ; and Mr. Jesse states that it breeds at Roehampton. My own acquaintance with it has been 
chiefly in the charming woods of the Ducbess of Sutherland, at Cliveden in Buckinghamshire, and the con- 
tiguous beautiful gardens of Formosa. As at Epping, the bird may here be seen at all seasons, but in far 
less numbers. I might mention many other localities where it may be found, such as the pleasure-grounds 
of W. Wells, Esq., at Redleaf in Kent, M^indsor Great Park, &c. ; but it will be sufficient to say that wherever 
there are trees bearing its favourite food, there will the bird be found, especially in the midland counties of 
England. 
The Hawfinch is a stout, thick-set, and inelegant bird, its inelegance being rendered more conspicuous by 
the enormous size of its hill and head when compared with that of its body and short square tail ; still Nature 
has attempted some degree of ornamentation in the purplish-green colouring and in the truncate and partially 
curled form of its secondaries ; the form of these feathers at their extremities is indeed very remarkable, and 
not to be seen in any other bird. It bears confinement well, and, according to Bechstein, “ will feed upon 
rape and bemp-seed directly they are caught, and should be chiefly fed upon those seeds, with fruit and green 
food.” Montagu states that even in winter, during mild weather, he has heard the Hawfinch sing sweetly, 
in low and plaintive notes ; and Mr. Selby thinks it probable that it sings well in the pairing-season ; but 
Bechstein says, “ For my part I cannot endure the unpleasant shrill call of its zip, which it Incessantly utters ; 
nevertheless its song, which consists of a light jingle with some shrill and harsh notes like irrr, is agreeable 
enough to many amateurs.” 
The sexes, when adult, vary in the colouring of their plumage, and they are also subject to a seasonal 
change in the hue of the bill, that organ being nearly white in winter, while in summer it is of a rich blue, 
sometimes uniform, at others relieved by a grey band round the base of the mandibles ; the rich blue colouring 
is common to both sexes, hut the under mandible of the female is frequently white, while the upper one is 
blue ; the legs are either fleshy white or reddish flesh-colour, and the Irides are greyish white. 
The young Hawfinch, just before it is able to fly, has the bill light olive inclining to pea-green, with a tinge 
of orange at the base, the legs purplish brown, and the Irides dark brown. At this age the wings and tail 
have begun to assume their adult colouring ; hut the plumage of the body has a very mottled appearance, a 
considerable amount of grey being mixed up with the commencement of the colours of maturity ; the cheeks 
and throat are stained with yellow, and the tips of the breast-feathers are marked with brown. A young 
bird in this state was taken in Mr. De Vitre’s garden of Formosa, iu Berkshire, on the 1 1th of June, 1859. 
Tlie young of the first year, when fully as large as the adult, has the bill of a nearly uniform light-purplish 
flesh-colour, the irides brown, and the tarsi and toes pinky-red. The assumption of the adult colouring has 
further advanced, but the body still wears a mottled appearance ; the black feathers of the throat begin to 
show, and the cheeks and breast are of a still richer yellow. A specimen thus coloured was taken on the 
5th of August. 
ITie male has the forehead light greyish buff gradually deepening into the rich chestnut of the crown, sides 
of the head, and occiput ; at the back of the neck a broad collar of grey ; back, scapularies, and lesser wing- 
coverts deep chocolate-brown ; lower part of the back and upper tail-coverts cinnamon-brown ; frontal half 
of the greater wing-coverts greyish white, the posterior half pale brown ; spurious wing and primaries deep 
black, their inner webs crossed near the middle by a broad mark of pure white, and the third and fourth 
glossed with green at the tip of the same web ; secondaries purplish green, their inner webs crossed near the 
middle with a broad mark of pure white ; tail black, largely tipped on the inner webs with white, the black of 
the apical portion of the outer web gradually becoming paler as the feathers approach the centre ; lores, a 
narrow line down each side of the bill, and a large patch on the centre of the throat velvety black ; cheeks 
light orange-brown; under surface vinaceous brown, fading into greyish white in the vent and under tail- 
coverts. 
Tlie female differs in having only a trace of the chestnut colouring of the head on the occiput, the grey 
collar less defined, and the back of a chestnut instead of a deep-chocolate tint ; the black throat-mark, too, is 
not so conspicuous, and the general tints are altogether paler. 
The Plate represents an adult male in the summer plumage, a young bird about a month old, and a reduced 
finnre of the male in the winter dress. 
O 
